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My Summary of October 2012’s Anime

So a month has gone by and the Fall season has given us a girth of new shows. There have also been a number of controversies regarding these shows: from the huge amounts of rape to the claim that Psycho-Pass is not moe. Oh well, doesn’t matter to m…is rape seriously the only thing these hack writers can think of?! No, bad Mr. Flawfinder! Calm down.

Now with that said, let’s take a look at what I thought of the anime I’ve seen this month. Some of them have been big surprises regarding how much I like them. Some of them were exactly I predicted in a good way. Some of them in a bad way. Some of them…well you’ll see.

Like

Chuunibyou demo Koi ga Shitai!

Episodes 1-4

I admit that Yuuta’s schtick of wanting to be normal has gotten kind of frustrating at this point and the KyoAni club thing made me face palm a little. But I have to be honest, this show is pretty funny. The constant attempts the girls try to be badass, only to be brought down to normal by the fact that they’re moe never gets old. Plus, those imaginary action sequences are just so fun to watch. As long as the series keeps having a sense of humor and doesn’t go into anything serious, I can see myself digging another KyoAni product.

Girls Und Panzer

Episodes 1-4

Gentlemen. Eef yu ar not vatching thees awesome anime, zere eez zomething vrong vith vou! Okay, kidding aside, I’m not as taken with this show as everyone else seems to be. I find the German subs annoying considering I can hear the Japanese words and know that it doesn’t translate like that, and I couldn’t give a shit about any of the characters (does anyone even remember their names?). The tank premise itself is funny, but the tweets I read concerning the show are much funnier, especially since the show doesn’t seem to know it’s a comedy half the time. Thankfully, when it does, it’s really funny. You cannot tell me those different colored tanks were meant to be taken seriously.

Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure

Episodes 1-4

Yeah, who would have thought this anime would be one of my favorites? It’s just so goofy and over-the-top in everything it does that I can’t help but love it. Even the cheap David Production animation adds to the goofy over-the-top style in a manner not too different from Aquarion EVOL…only with huge 12-year olds instead of horny stereotypes. Also, Vampire Jack the Ripper was wasted. The show needed more Vampire Jack the Ripper!

K

Episodes 1-4

Whilst the excitement created by the first episode is over, I’m still digging K quite a bit. It has a tendency to be random at times, but thankfully doesn’t take itself too seriously, allowing for the comedic moments to shine through. I’m also glad that Shiro’s annoying tendencies have started to become downplayed, which makes him way more tolerable than Vash the Stampede (yeah, I just marathoned Trigun). And of course, I’m really glad that we don’t have any fucking narration occurring in this show and I can actually follow the dialogue. I know you guys like your info dumps and all, but I hate them, so screw you guys and let me enjoy this anime.

Madoka Magica Movie 1

I talked about it before, but let’s go over it again. The thought of re-watching one of my favorite series on the big screen was pretty cool and it was for the most part. Unfortunately, when you combine the first 8 episodes of your show into one movie, it shows. And it shows bad. I got bored around the last third because it felt like I was marathoning a series rather than watching a complete movie. Of course, the fact that the movie was mostly about Sayaka (the only character that I actually like in the show) helped me enjoy the movie immensely and in the end, I didn’t care too much about the fact that this was just a recap movie. Second movie though…

Psycho-Pass

Episodes 1-3

This may come as a shock to you all, but I’ve never seen Blade Runner and barely remember Minority Report. So I don’t give a shit if this anime rips them off. Hell, even if it does, I’m still enjoying this show a lot. Yeah, Urobuchi’s dialogue has a tendency to be out of place, but the phenomenal world-building, fun characters (yes, I even like the “not moe, but sexy” female lead), and awesome action overshadow the faults I have with this show. I love the concept regarding how the Psycho-Pass system can either be seen as a way to stabilize lives or fully control them, and I hope to god that the show never picks a real side. Because that would be lame.

Indifferent/Meh

Civilization Blaster

Episodes 1-4

Civilization Blaster is obnoxious. It’s constant angsting, terrible Shakespeare quoting, and awful choice of mopey music grates on me more than Komari’s helium-induced voice ever could. This thing is similar to Type-Moon (only not nearly as boring) in that it’s trying to be deep, but it’s coming off as stupid, and the exposition is just too long with not much to enhance it. I do like the premise and the animation, plus Episode 4 eased up on the angst a bit so we can actually know these twits. I just wish those first three episodes weren’t so stupid.

Code Breaker

Episodes 1-4

After hearing some positive things about Code Breaker, I picked this show back up whilst hoping that this adaptation would improve on what I didn’t like about the manga. The later episodes actually worked thanks in part to the clever direction and the morals being on equal ground between Sakura and Rei. Too bad that latest episode caught up to the parts I didn’t like from the manga and turned the whole thing into a snooze-fest. Yeah, this thing needs to go to Future Diary-levels of stupidity in order to save itself at this point.

From the New World

Episodes 2-5

My problem with this anime is that it’s world-building/quiet moments are dull as sin and I don’t give a shit about any of the characters. Hell, aside from Saki and Satoru, I don’t even remember their names. I also can’t say that I’m a big fan of how this thing tries to copy live-action shots like blurry cameras and out-of-focus action (aka, the bad kind of shots that become even worse when animated), which I’ve gotten used to, but it’s still annoying to see. In particular, I have a love/hate relationship with Episode 5. Oh god, Episode 5. That is some creepy, yet tastefully handled shit right there. And considering Episode 5 had an almost-sex scene between twelve-year olds, that’s saying a lot. Too bad that the director got a seizure or something during the time this episode was made, or else I would actually like this show.

Jormungand: Perfect Order

Episodes 1-4

Oh Jormungand. How nice of you to bring more loco Koko to us. Too bad I’ve lost interest in you a long time ago. Yeah, despite all the stuff that’s been happening and the death of R and Koko being even more loco than usual, I just can’t bring up any enthusiasm for this show. Maybe if the animation wasn’t so fucking cheap and the fourth episode wasn’t so boring that I stopped paying attention seven minutes in. But eh, I still want to see how this goes.

Litchi Hikari Club and Teekyu (Dropped)

Episodes 1-2

They’re not funny. Anyone who says they are is lying in my biased opinion. End of.

Little Busters!

Episodes 1-4

Unlike most people, I don’t think the show is that bad (although it still is pretty bad). Yeah, the directing is shit due to JC Staff hiring their janitors to put this together, but I like the concept and the main five (well, not Riki) well enough to get through the show. Kurugaya also isn’t that bad of a character, although that introductory episode of hers is just painful. The rest of the characters though? Yeah, fuck them. At least the show realized that it might as well get Komari’s route over with since it’s clear that no amount of time spent on her was going to convince anybody to like her. Hooray?

Magi

Episodes 1-4

This Yoshino-adapted work is one of his better stuff, all things considered. I like the chemistry between AliBaba and Aladdin, and I liked how the entire anime doesn’t take place in that dungeon, so we get to see more of the world Magi takes place in. Unfortunately, Episode 4 happened. On top of being the most boring thing I have ever watched, Aladdin is just not an interesting character on his own. Plus…well…rape. I don’t know whether to blame Yoshino (he does this a lot in his works), the original source material, or the fact that it’s sort of becoming a new fad in the anime world. Ugh. Hopefully Alibaba and Morgiana come and bring back life into this show.

Madoka Magica Movie 2

I know I’m a bit mean for putting this movie in this category, but I’m sticking to my guns on this one. Whilst watching the second movie, all I could think was “Why does this movie exist?” followed closely by “Why is this movie so goddamn boring?” It added nothing new to the franchise, the scenes were the same as they were in the TV show, and when you have to see that for an hour and a half, the annoyances in the story start to become more prevalent. Also, I don’t care about any of the characters other than Sayaka, and since the movie started from when she turned into a monster and ended on the same goddamn ending as the original series, I was left without a single character to care about. If a movie doesn’t do anything to improve on to the original source material and it doesn’t stand on its own, it’s not a good movie.

My Little Monster (Dropped)

Episodes 1-2

I realized something just before I got to watching the third episode. My Little Monster doesn’t have anything to offer me in any way. I’ll say it’s one of the better shoujos I’ve seen, despite all the controversy surrounding it. It also uses some very good direction to hide the fact that it has no budget. But it still succumbs to the cliches I can’t stand far too often, overshadowing the stuff I actually like (aka anything to do with the chicken). So I bailed whilst cursing that I didn’t choose this anime for my FAL.

One Off

Episodes 3-4

You remember that OVA series about a busty blond motorcyclist and a teenage girl who learns from her in some way? Yeah, I didn’t either until I saw that the final two episodes had been released. I barely remember a thing from the two episodes I watched, because they were just so forgettable. Oh well. It was a good way to waste an hour, I guess.

Robotics; Notes

Episodes 1-3

It’s true I went into Robotics;Notes knowing I wasn’t going to like this anime. But the very least this thing could have done was try to prove me wrong. This anime is so goddamn dull with that boring sarcastic male lead, awful whiny-voiced female, boring exposition, boring story, terrible melodrama…are we sure this isn’t the Key anime adaptation? Episode 3 was a little bit of an improvement with the robot fights and all, so yeah it has the potential to get better. It just needs to get better faster.

Space Bros

Episodes 27-30

Oh god, this thing fell fast in my rankings. It was inevitable given how this is a long series and all, but nothing is fucking happening in this show any more! Aside from that episode where Mutta was getting judged by that tough-looking guy (which was repetitive), the rest of the episodes were so just so boring. Well I take that back. The last part of the latest episode was legitimately cool. Hopefully, now that Hibito is in space, we can get some progress made.

Sword Art Online

Episodes 14-17

This one also became more boring throughout the month. Now that the SAO arc is over, we’ve gone into new territories of bad that are honestly not as fun to watch as the previous territories. And considering that this arc has flying, elf ears, an incestuous sister/cousin, and a villain who does subtlety worse than a light novel title, that’s pretty bad. I’ve heard from people that this ALO arc is something so bad that not even the fans liked it. Hopefully, it justifies this claim and I can laugh at the show again.

Wooser

Episodes 1-4

It’s cute. It can be funny. Not much else to say other than I need to get into that Bug-Biting anime sometime. Oh, and this is the last time this anime is ever going on a monthly ranking because…what can I say about it other than the fact that it’s Wooser?

Dislike/Hate

Btooom! (Dropped)

Episodes 1-2

It wasn’t because of the rape in Episode 2 that made me drop this, although I thought it would be. No, what made me drop this was how much I wasn’t giving a shit about anything that was happening. These characters just aren’t interesting in any way, plus the show is padded like hell. And given that this thing is 12 episodes long, that’s not a good sign. I took a quick look at Episode 3 to see if it could change my mind, but when a gritty anime like Btooom ends up doing a poop joke, you know you’re doing something wrong.

It Doesn’t Matter If There’s Love As Long As He’s My Brother, Right? (Dropped)

Episodes 1-3

Man, fuck this show. I know I complain about Silver Link’s humor and stuff, but this show in particular is just painful. OniAi tries to cover up the fact that its jokes aren’t funny with clever direction. But no amount of direction can make up for the fact that the jokes all boil down to the girls wanting to fuck the guy. Or the fact that the jokes are about as lazy and tasteless as a Jeff Dunham show. If you like the same pervert jokes being said over and over, that’s fine. Just don’t talk to me.

Sakurasou No Kanojo (Dropped)

Episodes 1-4

Jesus Christ, this show is awful! I’ve seen people say that this is the better JC Staff show, but aside from being better directed, all I see is a show that makes Little Busters (and the other Key stuff) look good. The attempts to create drama are just so lazy and clash so badly with the “comedic” tone that it’s pathetic. The characters are so dumb, bland, and downright feckless that I couldn’t give a shit what happens to them. Also, whose bright idea was it to introduce this kind of heavy melodrama (with RAIN, because that makes things more dramatic) this early on in a 24-episode show? What, was this written by Seo Fucking Kouji or something? Because the last thing I want is for that hack’s writing to be adapted by Mari friggin’ Okada. So yeah, in addition to being horrible, the story is already complete in my mind and can’t go anywhere from here. Why would I want to watch this further?